Abstract:
A method of fabricating an optical fiber incorporating a volatile constituent, involving: (a) providing a preform comprising a cladding glass having an axial aperture and a core glass arranged in the axial aperture, wherein the working temperature of the core glass lies below the working temperature of the cladding glass; and (b) drawing the preform into an optical fiber at a drawing temperature that lies between the working temperatures of the core and cladding glasses and above the softening temperature of the cladding glass, wherein the core glass prior to drawing includes a dioxide or higher oxide compound of the volatile constituent having a Gibbs free energy of disassociation into a monoxide compound of the volatile constituent that is negative at the drawing temperature, whereby the dioxide or higher oxide compound tends to disassociate into the monoxide compound during drawing. The volatile constituent may be Sn or Pb. The method may also be adapted for incorporating P as the volatile constituent. With this method, the core material melts while the cladding glass remains solid but in a deformable state. Melting the core material, provides more freedom in the choice of combinations of core and cladding glasses. The starting material for the core may be a powder or a solid rod, i.e. the invention may be embodied as a powder-in-tube (PIT) or a rod-in-tube (RIT) method.
Abstract:
An optical waveguide which can suppress adjacent crosstalk even when wavelength intervals to be multiplexed/demultiplexed are narrow. A lower clad film and a core film are deposited and formed on a substrate (11) by flame hydrolysis deposition, and they are consolidated, whereupon the core film is processed into a waveguide pattern. The waveguide pattern is formed by successively connecting at least one optical input waveguide (12), a first slab waveguide (13), an arrayed waveguide (14) consisting of a plurality of channel waveguides (14a) arranged side by side and having lengths different from one another, a second slab waveguide (15), and a plurality of light output waveguides (16) arranged side by side. The waveguides arranged side by side are at intervals from one another. An upper clad film covering the waveguide pattern is deposited and formed by flame hydrolysis deposition, and it is thereafter consolidated. Herein, a sintering rate in a temperature rise from a temperature at which the density change of the glass particles of the upper clad film starts, to a temperature at which the density change ends, is set at 1.0null C./min or below at the step of consolidating the upper clad film, whereby the arrayal aspect of the channel waveguides (14a) is brought close to an ideal aspect.
Abstract:
Systems and methods for suppressing cladding modes at the signal wavelength in an optical fiber system utilizing an optical amplifier without perturbing the pump wavelength. An outer cladding of the gain fiber is removed providing a short section of a single mode fiber that does not guide the higher order modes, thus attenuating the higher order modes. Therefore, this system eliminates unwanted noise. In an embodiment, the modes are filtered at the end of the gain section of the optical fiber before splicing to an input fiber. Hydro florate etching can be utilized to remove the outer cladding. The resulting fiber maintains fundamental mode propagation and no mode mixing occurs while losing the higher order modes eliminating the noise.
Abstract:
At least three elementary optical fibers are covered with a jacket layer. Each of the elementary optical fibers has a core of a first refractive index doped with at least one rare earth element and Al, and a cladding layer of a second refractive index lower than the first refractive index for covering the core. A value of (1+2t/Dw) is ranged to be 1.1 to 2.5, where t is a thickness of the cladding layer, and Dw is an outer diameter of the core, and a doping amount of Al is at least 1 weight %. The at least three elementary optical fibers are inserted into a jacket tube, and the elementary optical fibers and the jacket tube are heated to be welded at contact surfaces thereof by vacuum-drawing air from interstices of the elementary optical fibers and the jacket tube. Thus, a preform is obtained, and the preform is heated to be drawn. Consequently, a rare earth element-doped multiple-core optical fiber is fabricated. The rare earth element-doped multiple-core optical fiber is used to amplify a signal light to be propagated therethrough by receiving an excitation light.
Abstract:
Optical wave-guides, e.g. fibres, for use as photonic amplifiers have a path region partly or, preferably, wholly composed as a silica/germania glass with 0.1 to 5000 ppm mole of Er.sup.3+ as a lasing additive and alumina to adjust the bandwidth, the Ge:Al mole ratio being more than 2.8, e.g. 1:0.001 to 0.25. It is surprising that low amounts of alumina have a useful and significant effect on the lasing bandwidth whereby frequency division multiplex is facilitated.
Abstract:
This invention relates to the production of high purity fused silica glass through oxidation and/or flame hydrolysis of a halide-free, organosilicon-R compound in vapor form having the following properties:(a) producing a gas stream of a halide-free silicon-containing compound in vapor form capable of being converted through thermal decomposition with oxidation or flame hydrolysis to SiO.sub.2 ;(b) passing said gas stream into the flame of a combustion burner to form amorphous particles of fused SiO.sub.2 ;(c) depositing said amorphous particles onto a support; and(d) either essentially simultaneously with said deposition or subsequently thereto consolidating said deposit of amorphous particles into a virtually nonporous body; the improvement comprising utilizing a halide-free, organosilicon-R compound in vapor form having the following properties:(1) a Si--R bond dissociation energy that is no higher than the dissociation energy of the Si--O bond;(2) a boiling point no higher than 350.degree. C.; and(3) which, upon pyrolysis and/or hydrolysis, will produce decomposition products beside SiO.sub.2 which are deemed to be environmentally safe or the emissions are below acceptable governmental standards.
Abstract:
Rare earth elements, e.g. Nd, are introduced into optical glass fibre for telecommunications by evaporating a suitable salt, e.g. NdCl.sub.3, from a glass sponge into the gas stream used to deposit core material. Preferred sponges are in the form of tubes having an outer impervious layer and an inner porous layer. These sponges are conveniently made by MCVD and the impregnation is preferably carried out using an alcoholic solution of the impregnant.
Abstract:
An improved method of forming an optical fiber preform includes separately forming a rod-like inner member and a hollow tube-like outer member by a soot glass deposition technique. The inner member is inserted into the outer member, while they are both in their unconsolidated state, and the asssembled parts heated to cause the outer member to collapse about the inner member and form a preform. The resulting preform can be drawn in one or more stages to provide an optical fiber having sharp step change in its index of refraction between the core and the cladding, a superior quality core to cladding interface, and improved optical transmission qualities. The inner and outer members can, if desired, be partially consolidated but for an unconsolidated layer at their interface prior to heating the outer member to cause it to join with the inner member. In accordance with one feature of the present invention, an unconsolidated layer can be left on the outside surface of the outer member to provide a resulting fiber having superior mechanical handling characteristics.
Abstract:
Hydroxyl free deposition with high efficiency and at a high deposition rate may be achieved, even with use of relatively inexpensive raw materials, by utilizing a ring-shaped plasma activated axial chemical vapor deposition obtaining 100% chemical conversion and fractional volatilization of impurities. The plasma is induced in an annular stream of a plasma-forming gaseous medium, and the reactant or reactants used in the axial chemical vapor deposition are introduced into the center of the ring-shaped plasma to be converted by the heat of the plasma flame into soot which is deposited on a bait. An annular stream of a cooling medium flows outwardly past the plasma flame and is circumferentially centered by an extension of the outer tubular element of a plasma torch in which the plasma is generated. An RF generator which induces the plasma is operated at a frequency exceeding 20 MHz to give the plasma flame the desired ring-sloped configuration.
Abstract:
A single mode optical waveguide is constructed in a manner such that the core thereof is subjected to a stress-induced birefringence. The fiber comprises an oblong core surrounded by an oblong inner cladding layer. An outer layer of stress cladding glass, which has a circular outer surface, surrounds the inner cladding layer. The TCE of the stress cladding glass is different from that of the inner cladding glass.